Northwood: Go back to wood!
johnny May 11th, 2010
Well.. well.. well. What a fun day I’ve had. I spent about eight hours lying on my back in gravel inventing new curses to throw at Northwood after seeing the mess on the bottom of our camper. For future reference, according to the manual, Arctic Fox campers are not designed to be ‘lived in’, have the slide put out without jacks or have any water in any of the tanks while not in a truck bed. Also, their customer service folks have pointed out that ‘no one builds anything square, except maybe a picture frame.’
We had a few problems early on, but they seemed like just small issues. About a year ago, we were at the factory in Oregon and asked them to fix a ground bolt that had sheared off. The service tech pulled the water heater, replaced it and sealed it. He, however, neglected to actually replace the ground bolt. While there, we asked about the reason our camper is not actually square side to side and received the above quote as a response.
Two days ago, our fresh water tank fell through the bottom of the camper. Can you guess what I’m thinking about their overall design and build quality? I called them just to vent, not expecting more than the ‘we know that will break, so we put it in the owner’s manual’. That’s exactly what I got.
While pulling off the bottom of the camper, I found broken welds in every support throughout the camper. In fact, there was a broken weld directly under… wait for it… nothing. Most of the supports had more than one broken weld… every one of them had at least one weld broken on the passenger side… where the slide is. The average number of broken welds per brace was roughly three.
Most of the broken welds were just broken beads. I only recall seeing a couple where metal had actually sheared. Speaking of the metal, I had to bend a few pieces to get the wiring out of it while working on replacements. I managed to SNAP a piece of the aluminum with nothing but my hands and feet.
So, I have lots of little bruises from lying in gravel, but all six broken and completely under-spec’d braces have been replaced with two by fours. Tomorrow, Jenn gets to help support some shower board material to replace the luan that had to be broken in order to come out and we’ll have an enclosed camper again. Hopefully, nothing moves into our sub-floor in the meantime.
So, if you’re thinking of buying from Northwood, ask them to send you an owner’s manual so you can read their escape clauses first… and ask them just how many days a year the camper is designed to be used. Sadly, I forgot to ask.
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Scary. What year is your camper? Our 1999 Lance also has a some mention of not being intended for full time use. I pray for our frame.
2008. Scary, eh? Next time around, we’ll just build the damn thing ourselves and then I’ll know exactly who to curse when something breaks.
The good news is your frame is probably still wood in a ’99 model. I don’t recommend pulling the luan and insulation just to check though. major PITA to put it back together later, at least on ours.
Thankfully, it’s done minus a little time with my old friend the caulk gun. Stronger than designed and with an extra 3/4″ of urethane insulation as long as it was taken to bits anyway. Roughly $100 fix. I shudder to think what a mobile RV tech would charge.
Don’t feel bad Johnny, 98% of the rigs out there aren’t designed to be lived in. Seriously, even the ones that don’t exclude warranty coverage for full-timers really aren’t built any better from what I’ve seen, they just charge more for a warranty that’ll cover their butts for a couple of years, then you’re on your own anyway.
They all suck… it’s more of a level of suckdom that sets anyone apart
Oh crap. You guys we feel so bad, we’re so sorry. Aggh! Now I’m scared about our AF 5er.
Where were you when this happened? Where the hell are you now?
I hope it doesn’t, but if anything does happen, you are on your own. Northwood will not help you with structural issues after your warranty period. Thankfully, we were at our summer gig when it happened and Johnny made short work of it.
Hrmm. I’ve read all your posts, and i was thinking of geting a truck camper myself for eventual part/full timing. would a 5th wheel be a better choice then for actual living?
I think a truck camper is a fine way to go. I think next time around we’ll probably build our own RV in a step van (UPS truck). I also think a class B is a good way to go if you’re comfortable in a truck camper size-wise.
Fifth wheels are nice because of the living space, but if you are comfortable in a small space, then I’d go smaller. It’s so much easier to get places and maneuver through cities.
I think a class B might even be the ultimate for people that are OK in small spaces. The added height and weight on truck campers tend to be our limiters.
Whichever way you go through, the manufacture is probably the biggest issue. I wouldn’t go with another Northwood camper after our issues and the support we’ve received, but I know many people would.